Automatic musical instrument.



E. G. ANDERSON AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9. 19|5..

Patented Mar. 5, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET E. G. ANDERSON. AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9, I915.

Patented Mar. 5, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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nn'irnn STATES PA'riEiN-r onnion.

ERNST G. ANDERSON, 0F WESTFIELD, NEVJ JERSEY, ASSEGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO JOHN C. DEI-ILS, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 5, 1918.

To all whom itmag concern:

Be it known that I, ERNST ANDERSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of VVestfield, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Musical Instruments, of which the following is aspecification.

The invention pertains more particularly to means for controlling the speed of travel of the perforated music sheets employed in automatic musical instruments. The speed of travel of the perforated music sheets must necessarily vary in accordance with the subject, and these sheets must also vary from time to time during the rendition ofa piece of music. Ordinarily the speed of travel of the perforated sheet is in the main predetermined, but nevertheless portions of the sheet, in order to effect a proper rendition of certain parts of the music, should vary in speed of travel regardless of the predetermined speed intended for the sheet in accordance with the subject indicated thereon by the perforations.

My invention comprises novel means whereby the speed of travel of a sheet may be set at a predetermined rate, combined with means whereby such speed of travel may be varied from time to time as may be required to secure a proper rendition of the music.

The mechanism of my invention is presented herein as manually operative to control the pneumatic action by which the speed of travel of the perforated sheet is effected, and said mechanism comprises two levers with suitable connections leading to the air control and also to a scale indicating by numerals or otherwise the several. speeds at which perforated music sheets are designed to travel. The levers by being moved in one direction or the other are intended to actuate the intermediate connections so as to set the mechanism for securing the predetermined speed of travel of the perforated music sheet, means being provided for releasably securing said levers in the predetermined set position, and one of said levers being intended for independent manual operation from time to time as may be required during the rendition of the music so as tomodify or vary the speed of travel of the perforated sheet, increasing or decreasing such speed, without varying the position of the other lever, which for convenience may be termed the main lever, while the second lever to be operated from time to time during the rendition of a piece of music, may for conven ience be termed an auxiliary lever. During the rendition of a piece of music the main lever will remain stationary in its predetermined set position, and the auxiliary lever will be turned in one direction or the other in accordance with the modification of the speed of travel of the perforated sheet desired. I preferably provide means for restoring the auxiliary lever to its primary relation to the main lever whenever said auxiliary lever is released from the hand of the player.

My invention comprises, therefore, suitable mechanism for securing a predetermined general speed of travel of the musicsheet, and also means for varying said speed of travel from time to time as may be required to secure an effective rendition of the music.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away and partly in section, of speed control mechanism constructed in accord ance with and embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on a larger scale through a portion of a musical instrument equipped with the mechanism of my invention;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through a portion of the same taken on the dotted line 33 of Fig. 2;

F i is a vertical section through a portion of the same taken on the dotted line l l of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section through a portion of the same taken on the dotted line 55 of Fig. 2.

In the drawings, 10 indicates a portion of a front rail or part of a piano, and 11 a valve for controlling an opening 12 leading to the pneumatic parts ,of well-known character, controlling the speed of travel of the per forated music sheet, such speed of travel varying with the size of said opening. 13 indicates a visible index plate which will be secured upon any suitably exposed portion of the instrument and bear a series of nunierals denoting a predetermined speed of travel of the sheets of music to be applied to the instrument. At present the plate 13 is provided with a line graduated, with the graduations bearing numerals in ratios of 10 from 10 to 130.

In the front rail 10 or wherever the same may be conveniently located, is provided a recess 1 1 whose upper end is partly closed by a slotted plate 15 which at one edge of the slot is serrated, as at 16, Fig. 5. The recess 14: is in communication with a box 17 secured in a concealed position below the front rail portion of the piano frame, and within said box 17 is located the forward end of a rock shaft 18 having at its rear end a crank arm 19 to which is pivotally connected one end of a laterally extending link 20 whose other end is pivotally con nected with a crank member 21 of a vertical rock shaft 22, the latter being mounted in suitable bearings 23 and being rigidly connected at its upper end with a lever 2 1. The lever 2% has secured to its middle portion one end of a slide rod 25 whose other end is connected with the rod 26 of the valve 11. The sliding movement of the rods 25, 26, when actuated by the lever 2&, effects the movement of the valve 11 and in that way controls the extent of exposure of the opening 12.

The lever 24 also has secured to it one end of a link 27 whose other end is pivotally connected with a slide rod 28 mounted in bearings 29 and formed at its free end with an upwardly projecting finger or pointer 30 which lies in front of the index plate 13 and on the movement of the rod 28 from the lever 2a may be set at any of the graduations on said index plate.

That portion of the shaft 18 which is within the box 17 has mounted upon it a sleeve 31 having an upwardly extending lever arm 32, said arm being projected upwardly through the slot in the plate 15 and having a detent 33 adapted to engage any of the serrations 16 to which said detent may be manually moved. The sleeve 31 has at one end a bearing in the end of the box 17, and adjacent to the inner end of the box 17 said sleeve is formed with a block section 31 upon opposite sides of which are secured two-leaf springs 35 whose free ends extend. forwardly on opposite sides of the main lever 32 and also along opposite sides of a companion hand lever 36 whose lower end is secured upon the shaft 18 and which is normally parallel with the lever 32, the

' lever 32 being directly behind the lever 36 and both levers being formed with convenient finger pieces or broad surfaces at their upper ends. The lever 36 projects upwardly through the slot in the plate 15 and rigid with the shaft 18. Upon the shaft 18 between the sleeve 31 and hub 37 of the lever 36 is a coiled spring 38, this spring exerting a tension against the adjacent end of the sleeve 31 which is normally free on the shaft 18 but under some restraint, due to the presence of the spring 38 and the frictionof the block 34 against the inner wall of the box 17.

1 illustrate the mechanism with the levers 36 in a normal position with the ointer 30 at the number and on the p ate 13, this indicating that the music sheet should have a general predetermined speed represented by the number 70. In placing the levers 32, 36 to a position at which the pointer 30 will have been moved to alinement with the number 70, I take hold of both of the levers 32, 36 and move them either to the ri ht or left, as required, and thereby rotate the shaft 18 to a sufficient extent in the proper direction to effect through the rod 20, shaft 22, and rods 25, 28 the proper positioning of the valve 11 and pointer 30, and having moved said levers 32, 3G to the proper predetermined position I release said levers, with the detent 33 of the lever 32 engagin the proper recess in the serrated edge of the slot in the plate 15, the spring 38 serving at this time to bind said detent in said recess and to hold the lever in locked position. The outer end of the block 341- only engages the inner wall of the end of the box 17 when the detent 33 is within one of the recesses of the serrated edge on the plate- 15.

lVhen the levers 32, 36 are together moved to any proper predetermined position, for operating the valve 11 and locating the pointer 30, the lever 32 is held in such position by the detent 33 and spring 38 and the lever 36 is normally independently held in such position by the springs 35 carried by the sleeve 31. The retention of the levers 32, 36 in any set position results in the shaft 18 and connections therefrom leading to the valve 11 and pointer 30 remaining in fixed position, and under this condition the music sheet will travel in its predetermined timing or rate of speed. There are times, however, in the rendition of all pieces of music when the time or speed of travel of the sheet should vary in order that the rendition may be effective, and when those portions of the sheet which require variations in time are traveling over the tracker bar, the operator, in accordance with my invention, will, allowing the lever 32 to remain stationary, manually turn the lever 36 to the right or left as may be required and through the shaft 18 and connections leading therefrom, effect the setting of the valve 11 and pointer 30,

as may be required, this movement of the lever 36 being independent of the lever 32 and the lever 32 at such time remaining stationary due to the fact that the sleeve 31 is free on the shaft 18 and that the shaft 18 is capable of rotary motion independently of said sleeve. The levers 32, 36 will remain parallel With each other after once having been set until those portions of the music sheet reach the tracker bar which require a variation in the timing and at such periods the operator will modify the timing as required by turning the lever 36 to the right or left as may be necessary.

Upon the release of the lever 36 after each independent movement thereof, one or the other of the springs 35, Whichever one becomes lieXed by the movement of the lever 36 againstit, Will return the lever 36 to its normal position in parallelism With the lever 32.

My invention thus provides means for controlling the timing or the speed of travel of the perforated music sheet and includes means whereby the predetermined speed of travel may be controlled to meet the requirements of the music and also means whereby during the travel of a perforated music sheet the timing, while any part of the sheet is moving over the tracker bar, may be varied to meet the requirements of the music and the will of the operator. The operator is guided at all times in setting the levers 32, 36 in a predetermined position by the index 13, and he is further guided in varying the timing by means of the lever 36 by the same index, and after each variation in timing effected from the lever 36, said lever is automatically returned to its normal position in line with the lever 32.

hat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

In a player-piano employing a perforated music sheet with actuating means for effecting the travel of the same, time control means for the sheet comprising an index plate, a pointer therefor, a control valve for the actuating means, two manually operative levers, and connections between said levers and said pointer and valve comprising a rock-shaft on which said levers are mounted and members to be actuated therefrom and leading to said pointer and valve, one of said levers being rigid with said shaft and the other having a sleeve hub portion freely mounted thereon and provided With opposing leaf springs straddling said rigid lever, combined with a serrated plate to be engaged by said freely mounted lever and a spring pressing said lever against said plate for yieldingly locking the lever in predetermined position, said leaf springs serving to normally maintain said rigid lever in predetermined relation to said freely mounted lever and to return the same to such relation when said rigid lever is turned to modify the timing and then released.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 3rd day of Feby. A. D. 1915.

ERNST G. ANDERSON.

lVitnesses J. R. FRITH, CHAS. C. GILL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

